The No-Shopping Report: Weeks One Through Six

At the beginning of the year, I set a single intention: no shopping for new clothing or accessories for the next six months. And while it's only been six weeks, I'm surprised by how easy it's been so far. I've tried to "quit" a lot of things over the course of my adult life (dairy, meat, alcohol, social media), and each attempt resulted in some level of emotional meltdown. I don't like depriving myself of life's little pleasures, and having strict rules in place usually makes me want to stick it to whoever made them — even if it was me. So far, though, having a hard and fast rule about shopping has only resulted in an overwhelming sense of... peace.

Take travel, for example.

Jon and I took a quick trip to St. Lucia at the beginning of January to attend his brother's wedding. While 2017 Jacqui would have used this as an excuse to buy a new (even if "ethical") swim suit, cover up, or breezy island dress, No Shopping Jacqui had to get resourceful. So I borrowed a crocheted cover up from my mom (who lives in Southern California and has an endless supply of beachy things), sewed the strap back on to my Mollusk Surf Shop bikini (which I had been entirely too lazy to do before), and wore my Reformation Mattie dress to the ceremony (which I had initially ruled out because it was purchased while pregnant and therefore a maternity dress). Not having to buy anything new made preparing for our trip remarkably stress-free. Well, except for the leaving Avery part. That was hard.

In other silly-but-true moments from our trip: I left my sunglasses in my sibling-in-laws' room one morning and couldn't access them for about four hours. No Rules Jacqui would have most definitely bought a new pair at the resort gift shop rather than endure a few hours of tortured eyes, but No Shopping Jacqui had to hold her damn horses. And it was fine.

Another goal of my shopping ban is to focus on caring for the clothes and accessories I have. This inspired me to finally clean my brass jewelry with lemon and baking soda. You can read the scintillating details here.

Thoughts So Far

While I don't expect a gold star for simply exercising a basic sense of frugality, I will say it's been an enlightening journey thus far. I've been reminded of a few important things:

I already have a closet full of pretty clothes (I'm lucky!)
Borrowing is a legitimate option (free stuff kind of!)
Novelty can be achieved by mending, cleaning, and restyling pieces you already have
Shopping is actually pretty stressful (decision fatigue is real), and this stint feels more like a break than a punishment

I'll leave you with pregnant/not pregnant comparison shot featuring my Reformation dress... proof that there's life after maternity!